Maveritchell wrote:
Here's my first priority - I don't think there needs to be any sort of aggressive dialogue here. We all enjoy Star Wars, opinions will differ in a convoluted canon, Kumbaya, and all that.
Agreed. Truest point so far.
Maveritchell wrote:
The point is that I see this old man - who is also Anakin - and I see his plight. I accept that it's necessary that Anakin (as a whole character, both Hayden and Shaw) is shown as redeemed, but by now, as a viewer, I've sublimated Hayden-Anakin into Shaw-Anakin. I don't think that it's wrong, per se, to have Hayden-Anakin as the ghost, but I think it is unfortunate that it removes the plight of the embittered old man. Basically, it acknowledges the tragedy of the young Anakin, but doesn't acknowledge the tragedy of the old Anakin.
I can see how Anakin as portrayed by Hayden makes sense for a lot of people - which is why I'm not dismissive of your point. I think it is a valid one. Many people best know him as Hayden-Anakin. I - and I'm sure there are others - best know his whole character as Shaw-Anakin. Using Shaw doesn't overwrite or ignore Hayden.
That all said, I think using Hayden probably is the best choice for the most amount of people - I'm not here to say that you're wrong. What I am here to say is that there is an equally valid reason - one that isn't dismissive of the whole of canon - for identifying with Shaw-Anakin as the character.
It's an interesting problem because it's not as if this scenario has a precedent. The question probably becomes "if the movies were shot 1-6 and Hayden Christensen plays Anakin in 2-3, 6 (assuming Hayden has aged appropriately between 3 and 6), which representation of Hayden do we see: Hayden as pre-Vader or Hayden as redeemed old guy?" I think it's the old guy. Now, I don't think this contradicts my argument in previous posts because I based that argument on different circumstances but it's certainly interesting how the order the films were produced impacts how to handle what would otherwise be a straightforward scene.